Prince Edward Island, Canada

Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

The Clyde River Burnside Presbyterian Women’s Morning Out group is selling one of their paintings entitled “Fishing Village” which would make a good Christmas present. The acrylic painting is a 36″ x 12″ on canvas. The price is $300 with proceeds going towards recent renovations at the church. If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please contact Fred or Millie Kikkert at 902-675-3061.

The big summer event for Clyde River Women’s Institute is, of course, the annual Strawberries and Ice Cream Festival where young and not so young gather to enjoy the scrumptious desserts and meet friends and neighbours. Admission at the door. The museum featuring a collection of artifacts and heritage photos will be open for tours.

Art in the Park: Saturday, July 22, 9:00 to Noon, Murchison Place Park (shine or light rain).
Art in the Park welcomes all levels of painters, especially the beginner. Come on out for an enjoyable morning of painting with new and old friends, under the dappled canopy of the park. We also welcome those who enjoy watching art being created.
All are invited to an optional demo and free painting lesson in Plein Air landscape painting starting at 9:30 am to 10:30 am. In a workshop style, with local artist Julia Purcell, participants will learn to develop a well-built start for their painting by creating strong compositional thumbnails through the principles of Japanese notan and by using a view finder to shape a limited focus. There will be an explanation of the three properties of color and a discussion of how to implement a color strategy by using a limited palette in landscape painting. Bring your own painting materials e.g. acrylic or watercolor paint. Please include a sketch book and soft pencil such as an 8B. Using an easel is recommended. View finders will be provided. If you plan to participate in this lesson, we ask you to pre-register by emailing juliampurcell@gmail.com. Coffee and water provided. There is a washroom on site. Murchison Place Park is located among the trees at the corner of Trans Canada Highway and Clyde River Road.

Clyde River artist Julia Purcell made the front page of the Journal Pioneer on Monday and we want to say how proud we are of her and her work. The following is a reprint of the article that appeared.

Nature of Painting

“I started this landscape painting this morning and kept going until mid-afternoon once the paint was starting to set,” said Purcell. “Then I took a break.”

Painting is one of Purcell’s greatest pleasures in life, and it brings out a world of creativity.

“I don’t want to give away my age, but I’ve been painting for 40 years. It started with my parents who are well-known painters (Joseph and Tela Purcell of Nova Scotia), and it was something I eventually got the courage to try. And with lots of practice I got better,” she added.

“It’s definitely a shortcut if you have an instructor to guide you.”

Purcell instructs many on how to paint picture perfect images of P.E.I.

Unlike watercolours or acrylics, oil paints are complicated and take a long time to dry. Knowing the chemistry of this paint is almost essential to achieving the proper effect, she said.

“Oil painting, you do in stages,” explained Purcell. “First, you do a drawing then an under painting and keep going for a few hours until the paint starts to set. Then you would generally lay aside the painting for that day and, hopefully, get back to it the next because otherwise the paint doesn’t go on as layers the way it should.”

Several people came to see the artist transform a blank canvas into a stunning landscape painting full of blended brushstrokes with vibrant colours.

“There’s nothing I would rather be doing then to paint or talk about painting. I had several lovely people spend quite a few hours with me actually. It was great,” said Purcell. “One of the ladies that came to visit me today wants to learn how to paint, and she actually commissioned me to go out and take a look at a certain area.”

“The owners of Gallery 18, Aubrey Bell and Patricia Bennett, saw my posts online and asked what I was going to do with all my work and if I would like to have a show, and, of course I said yes,” stated Purcell. “That was last fall and I have been working on it all winter, through the spring and summer.”

Clyde River artist Julia Purcell has an exhibit and sale of her original works at Gallery 18 in New London. The show is called Finding My Voice and features new paintings of Island views. The show continues through until Sunday, August 28th. Gallery 18 website here.

Doreen Pound attended the opening of the exhibit on August 7th. She says there are both watercolour and oil paintings. Her favourite was a landscape view of Clyde River from the vantage point of Jo-Ann MacPhail’s. Almost half of the paintings are of Clyde River.

We are having a lovely summer, so make sure to take a drive up to New London with your friends, neighbours or off-Island guests.

Julia leads the Art in the Park event at Murchison Place Park each summer.

The Friends of Clyde River invites everyone to our annual Art in the Park event on Saturday, July 16, from 8:30 a.m. until noon at Murchison Place Park. Guest artist Julia Purcell will lead an art demonstration. All are welcome to take along their art supplies to paint/sketch or, if you just want to relax and listen, that is great as well. We offer a special invitation to families to come out and paint together.

Take this opportunity to stroll through the park to see the many recent improvements that have been made which include new play and swing sets, areas landscaped and new trees added.

Art in the Park will take place in fair weather or light rain. Please check this website for details if the weather is uncertain.

Murchison Park is located on the corner of the TransCanada Hwy and the Clyde River Rd. Coffee and treats will be provided in the early morning but feel free to take along a lunch.

All are welcome to attend the Clyde River W.I.’s LEAP Mixed Art Media Exhibition on Wednesday, March 9th, 12:30 p.m. at the Riverview Community Centre, 718 Clyde River Rd. The event will feature art produced by the 15 participants in this year’s program.

Their art instructor was Kate Sharpley from Stratford who is well known for her “Squiggle Brush” classes for both adults and children. Kate taught her LEAP students how to draw basic lines and shapes, how to copy shapes and produce mirror images. She introduced them to a watercolour palette, how to mask out shapes and where to place subjects for good composition. Kate set up a variety of fruit for one class and flowers for the next one and taught them what to look for when producing a drawing.

The students produced postcards using watercolours. Then they learned how to introduce different materials into their art e.g. torn paper from reclaimed textbooks and yarn to add variety and texture to their art. She showed them how to mix basic colours.

Their final project was to bring all they had learned together on a 16″ x 20″ canvas of their own creation.

The exhibition will feature the students’ projects created throughout the program. We hear it is an impressive assortment of mixed media which brought out each of the student’s personalities.

Please make sure to drop by on Wednesday to celebrate their creativity. You may find yourself looking at materials around your house in a different way and begin a project of your own, with a child or grandchild.

Art the Park – Plein Air – will take place on Saturday, July 25th from 8:00 a.m. to 12 noon at Murchison Place Park. Clyde River artist Julia Purcell will lead the morning which will offer participants a choice of self-directed group painting or an optional group lesson with Julia for a portion of the morning before spreading out in and around the park to paint.

Julia welcomes any level of painter, whether you are a beginner or beyond and offers the following overview of what she will teach.

“Thinking and understanding the style/approach to your painting is useful and then defining your personal preferences in relation to style. The question is, do you prefer the linear style or the painterly style? And then how do you achieve that? And can your painting have aspects of both approaches and still work as a successful, convincing painting?” Julia will show how that it possible.

Julia will also spend time talking about the many colors of green that we encounter when painting en plein air. “We will experiment with suggestions on how to mix a sunlit green or a shadow green, a distant green hill or nearby field of green grass, the deep green of evergreens or the bright green of deciduous trees or whatever else nature sets out before us. It’s all fun for painters,” Julia describes.

Participants need to bring all their own supplies including paints, brushes, palette, tape, paper and backboard or canvas. An easel would be useful as would a clamp-on beach umbrella and sunscreen, plus a hat. Pack a lunch, if desired. Coffee will be provided. The event will take place in sunshine or light rain.

We also welcome those who enjoy watching art being created to drop by.